Florida doesn’t have any districts listed among those serving the highest percentage of public charter school students, but the percentage of students attending charter schools is increasing.
Florida has two of the Top 10 Districts With the Highest Growth of Public Charter School Students: Continue Reading →
He and six other council members are charged with making recommendations to the Florida Legislature and education leaders regarding new degree programs and institutions.
At today’s council meeting, Moore gave a presentation titled “The Reality of Student Debt.”
Q: In a nutshell, what in your view is the reality of student debt?
A: The reality is that it’s not as big of a story as the national media and some would have you believe. But it’s certainly an issue of concern.
The rising cost of attending college has had a lot of impact, but there are so many other factors that have driven student debt that it’s not just pure cost.
Student debt (has) remained relatively constant as a percentage of the total American debt. It’s not as scary a picture as some would believe.
Q: From your vantage point, what is the biggest problem behind the debt that needs to be dealt with?
A: I think we need to be looking at student default rates more than the gross amount that students are borrowing.
The program honors public and private schools in one of two performance categories:
“Exemplary High Performing” is for schools that are among their state’s highest performers, as measured by state assessments or national tests.
“Exemplary Improving” recognizes schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate the most progress in improving student achievement levels.
“Achieving the level of excellence set by the Blue Ribbon Schools Awards is no easy task,” Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart said. “These schools are a model for others to follow, creating classrooms designed for student success.”
In Florida, the award winners were all selected in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category:
West Melbourne Elementary School for Science, Brevard County
West Shore Junior/Senior High School, Brevard County
A performance based funding system would bring more money to Florida colleges and universities with the highest graduation rates.
What will a performance funding system for Florida’s post-secondary institutions look like?
State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan defines it as “awarding money to institutions based on performance in key measures of student success.”
The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) is meeting today at New College of Florida in Sarasota and discussing the idea.
BOG Vice Chairman Mori Hosseini said a performance funding system should include a measure of students who graduate in a reasonable period of time.
“How many of our kids come to university that should not be in university; that after six years, they don’t graduate and they leave with $21,000 average in debt? That’s devastating to a family,” Hosseini said.
Dr. Dale Brill chairs the Higher Education Task Force. Members have come up with a list of recommendations for Gov. Rick Scott and the BOG.
The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) is starting two days of meetings at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Among the agenda highlights: recommendations by the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform and an appearance by Gov. Rick Scott.
Scott created the task force last May to review and make recommendations regarding operation of the State University System.
Their final report is due to the governor this week.
Blue Ribbon Chairman Dr. Dale Brill will share the panel’s work.
Gov. Rick Scott listens to teachers at Boca Raton High School during his Education Listening Tour.
Election Day isn’t keeping the State Board of Education from meeting this week in Boca Raton.
The panel has a full agenda on Election Day that includes a discussion of whether to appeal court rulings in two lawsuits:
Teacher evaluations – The Florida Education Association and two named teachers sued the State Board of Education and the Department of Education over changes to way teachers are evaluated.
Out-of-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants – The plaintiffs are five U.S. citizens whose parents are undocumented. The students are charged costly out-of-state tuition because of their parents’ legal status. The Board will decide whether to appeal the ruling that said the students can pay the cheaper in-state tuition.
The Board will also get an update on the move from textbooks to digital materials, and the roll out of common core standards and assessments. Both transitions have begun and will continue through 2015.
A state school funding task force is recommending raising property taxes if the Legislature can't agree on a stable funding source for district and charter school maintenance and construction.
A task force established by the Florida Legislature last spring is charged with making recommendations for equitable funding of charters and other schools operated by a school district.
Last month, the task force recommended that “the legislature identify a stable and reliable state funding source to adequately fund capital outlay requirements for charter schools, and that adequate provision for the construction and maintenance of traditional schools be made by increasing the maximum discretionary millage a school board may levy for capital purposes to 2.0 mills.”
If a reliable and stable state funding source cannot be identified, the panel recommends a half mill property tax increase. The money would go to both traditional and charter schools.
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